Even if Peirce were well understood and there existed- general agreement
among Peirce scholars on what he meant by his semiotics, or philosophy
of signs, the undertaking of this book-wliich intends to establish a
theoretical foundation for a new approach to understanding the
interrelations of law, economics, and politics against referent systems
of value-would be a risky venture. But since such general agreement on
Peirce's work is lacking, one's sense of adventure in ideas requires
further qualification. Indeed, the proverbial nerve for failure must in
any case be attendant. If one succeeds, one has introduced for further
inquiry the strong possibility that should our social systems of law,
economics, and politics---our means of interpersonal transaction as a
whole-be understood against the theoretical back- ground of a dynamic,
"motion-picture" universe that is continually becoming, that is
infinitely developing and changing in response to genuinely novel
elements that emerge as existents, then the basic concepts of rights,
resources, and reality take on new dimensions of meaning in
correspondence with n-dimensional, infinite value judgments or
truth-like beliefs which one holds. If such a view, as Peirce
maintained, were possible and tenable not only for philosophy but as the
basis for action and interaction in the world of human experience and
practical affairs, one would readily say that risk taking is a small
price for the realization of such possibility.